I an adult with ADD. I was diagnosed halfway through high school. I went on meds and went from a 2.66 GPA to a 4.0. If not for the diagnosis and the meds I would have barely graduated, would never have gone to college, and would, over all, have a vastly sh*ttier standard of living.

And I never asked for any breaks other than taking meds. No extra time on tests, none of that.

I still struggle every goddamn day, and still take meds, to deal with the f*cked up society you low-intelligence disinterested f*ckwits have built for yourselves because you are only capable of dealing with having everything placed before you in nice neat rows, but are unable to question or dream.

I especially loved TFA's author getting bored 80% of the way through the article, and deciding to just start making things up, re: 'ADD brains process information more slowly, so they fidgit to wake up their brains'. Which 30 seconds of googling could have disproved.

For this reporter's next trick, he can help Calvin do a report on bats.

People want children to be little adults and focus on things while their brains (the kids) are racing with new inputs and distractions that adults are hardened too..oh look at the cloud, the sunlight from the window...that end of the pencil tip..the way the pencil hits the paper and leaves dusts sometimes, the texture of paper, the little imperfections in their desks..etc..etc. and the adults now have 'name' for it ADD...and drug them. Even in Charlie brown the adults were all WHAAA WHAAA WHAAA. Let kids be kids.

while sometimes it's a big problem for few kids, but most kids that what we'd call ADD is because they're processing new info, distracted from adult imposed regiment; from the light in a rainbow, an ant is more interesting than a teacher, and a cloud is wonder to behold.

I an adult with ADD. I was diagnosed halfway through high school. I went on meds and went from a 2.66 GPA to a 4.0. If not for the diagnosis and the meds I would have barely graduated, would never have gone to college, and would, over all, have a vastly sh*ttier standard of living.

And I never asked for any breaks other than taking meds. No extra time on tests, none of that.

I still struggle every goddamn day, and still take meds, to deal with the f*cked up society you low-intelligence disinterested f*ckwits have built for yourselves because you are only capable of dealing with having everything placed before you in nice neat rows, but are unable to question or dream.

Not to insult or anything, but what do you think about the American Psychiatric Association no longer recognizing ADD as a legitimate disorder?

Part of that has to do with the reorganization of autism as a spectrum disorder. I suspect that ADD may have gotten subsumed into ASD, since a lot of the symptoms are the same.

I also suspect that overdiagnosis of normal 5-year olds because teacher/mommy&daddy/the school nurse seem to feel that it's easier to call a kid ADD and hand him a pill instead of scheduling more recess may have played a part.

SquiggsIN:It's in the water and food. Environmental toxins DO cause problems despite the fact that the FDA is bribed with billions to keep approving whatever big business can cut into the supply chain.

I think water is much, much better, and far more controlled and safer in today's world than it was in the 1960, 50, 40s. Before the EPA was enacted.

Human beings aren't wired to spend their formative years sitting still in one position for hours, reading things, listening to someone talk about things they mostly don't care about, then filling in little bubbles about other things they mostly don't care about. Why is it a surprise some people aren't good at it? In modern society it may be a 'disorder' because it makes it harder for you to sit quietly in your cubicle and do paperwork, but I'm not sure it's a defect. For most of the time humans have been humans, they spent their time moving around, doing multiple tasks in a sensory rich environment where they needed to be alert to many different things. If you focused in too tightly on one specific repetitive task you might miss whatever was sneaking up behind you to kill you.

I've seen many kids with ADHD.They cannot focus on ANYTHING* for more than a few minutes.You have to think about their parents**

* this excludes iPads, video games and cartoon channels which miraculously they can focus on for hours at a time** parents who never ever even try to have the kids sit down or God forbid shout at them to settle down and finish what they need to do

/personally know a parent who went and gave a teacher a stern talking to after said teacher failed the kid in an exam. An exam in which the kid wrote nothing at all on the paper//also personally dealt with a kid in a summer program who was diagnosed with ADHD. Kid was causing turmoil and crying and throwing himself in the middle of the playing court because he couldn't keep the ball. Took the kid and sat down with him in the corner until he stopped his tantrum when he saw it was getting him nowhere.I then pulled out my phone which had some games on it and asked him if he wanted to play. Of course he did. I let him play a bit. Then said if you want to play some more go out on the field and play well. He went our played, and whenever he would start with a tantrum I'd call out his name and he'd come back to his senses.///let him play afterwards////they are not born snowflakes. We are the ones who choose whether to raise the heat or play 'cool parents'//YMMV, especially if the child is mentally unreachable. Otherwise, for the sake of the kid's future, try.

I used to have ADD, but I was cured...must wash hands now....I used to have ADD, but I was cured...must wash hands now.... I used to have ADD, but I was cured...must wash hands now.... I used to have ADD, but I was cured...must wash hands now.... I used to have ADD, but I was cured...must wash hands now.... I used to have ADD, but I was cured...must wash hands now.... I used to have ADD, but I was cured...must wash hands now.... I used to have ADD, but I was cured...must wash hands now....

ambercat:Human beings aren't wired to spend their formative years sitting still in one position for hours, reading things, listening to someone talk about things they mostly don't care about, then filling in little bubbles about other things they mostly don't care about. Why is it a surprise some people aren't good at it? In modern society it may be a 'disorder' because it makes it harder for you to sit quietly in your cubicle and do paperwork, but I'm not sure it's a defect. For most of the time humans have been humans, they spent their time moving around, doing multiple tasks in a sensory rich environment where they needed to be alert to many different things. If you focused in too tightly on one specific repetitive task you might miss whatever was sneaking up behind you to kill you.

i know what you mean. i have always feared that i might get sniped while i am reviewing the TPS reports. why o why did school not prepare me for random acts of homicide?

I think the fact that pharmaceutical industries have developed wonderful pills for dealing with this shows that it is a REAL PROBLEM. They definitely did NOT create this disorder as a way to push billions of dollars worth of pills into every kid they can.

Besides, even if it were a real disorder for some people, it is definitely NOT due to all the brain-warping chemicals being pumped into the environment. It's genetic, so keep taking your pills, microwaving your food in plastic containers, and living next to smokestacks.

Sid_6.7:to deal with the f*cked up society you low-intelligence disinterested f*ckwits have built for yourselves because you are only capable of dealing with having everything placed before you in nice neat rows, but are unable to question or dream. So, in conclusion, f*ck you, subby. Go DIAF.

ambercat:Human beings aren't wired to spend their formative years sitting still in one position for hours, reading things, listening to someone talk about things they mostly don't care about, then filling in little bubbles about other things they mostly don't care about. Why is it a surprise some people aren't good at it? In modern society it may be a 'disorder' because it makes it harder for you to sit quietly in your cubicle and do paperwork, but I'm not sure it's a defect. For most of the time humans have been humans, they spent their time moving around, doing multiple tasks in a sensory rich environment where they needed to be alert to many different things. If you focused in too tightly on one specific repetitive task you might miss whatever was sneaking up behind you to kill you.

It was also acceptable to react to the "other" by hitting it with a rock. Times change; adapt or be left behind

Sid_6.7 way to ignore the headline & article is about children (not adults) and to make it all about you. Your explosion speaks volumes about subject matter that counseling and hard work should have attended to long ago.

I'll agree that research and development in pharmaceuticals has resulted in wonderful advancements that most certainly be taken advantage of. The same holds true for the field of psychiatry and counseling. The general field of medicine grows in leaps and bounds and only the most ignorant choose to overlook how many can benefit from others hard work and efforts.

There is also cause for concern FOR CHILDREN that certain poor parenting habits can lend to misdiagnosis. Intake of certain foods and beverages for children should be limited or eliminated, proper amounts of sleep must be part of the daily regimen as well as physical play time in fresh air. Taking care to make certain basic needs are met before moving on to medication is a logical choice.

We had a kid tested one time for learning disabilities. Test results showed the kid was of average intelligence, with no significant difficulties noted. We were then told to get a full medical work up on the kid. Said kid had levels of hormones consistent with onset of puberty, which have a known history of increased moodiness, rebellion to authority, risk taking behavior, etc. However, when we elected to continue with non-pharmacological behavior management, the 'professionals' were shocked.

Kid was a pain in the neck, and that kid's puberty was hell on everyone in our house. But, I'm still disgusted at the amount of grief we caught from doctors and teachers about non-drugging the kid.

I'm sure there are kids that would benefit from some kind of chemical rebalance, but it can't possibly be as high as the stats indicate currently.

optikeye:People want children to be little adults and focus on things while their brains (the kids) are racing with new inputs and distractions that adults are hardened too..oh look at the cloud, the sunlight from the window...that end of the pencil tip..the way the pencil hits the paper and leaves dusts sometimes, the texture of paper, the little imperfections in their desks..etc..etc. and the adults now have 'name' for it ADD...and drug them. Even in Charlie brown the adults were all WHAAA WHAAA WHAAA. Let kids be kids.

Sure, humans aren't evolutionarily adapted to sitting in rows and quietly doing sums for 8 hours a day, and there are problems because of the difference between how children function and societal expectations. And if you want to say that ADD is overdiagnosed, I think most psychologists would agree with you. But if you've ever met a child who really has ADD, you know the difference between "being a normal boy that wants to climb trees instead of learn grammar" and someone with ADD. They're the kids that never have any clue what's going on around them. That's not a normal part of being a kid.

It's a massive shame that the thread looks like it does right now. Plenty of people screaming that Big Pharma invented the condition and that some anecdotal experiences with snotty-nosed little kids with extremely poor parents being labelled with the condition disproves the entire condition's existence, carefully skirting the fact that it exists on adults, and the amount of extremely famous and successful adults that have come out as having ADHD. Are we saying these folk are using the label as an excuse for their failure? They haven't failed by my measure.

The Boobies was the sound of an emotional, angry post from someone all too used to being told they're an idiot and their condition is made up, and it's appropriate that even on Fark, where you can find at least some discussion and understanding for disorders like body dysphoria and transsexualism, is treated with such scorn.

Actual science recognises the condition, and in the latest DSM-V, it is still there, but has been refined and redefined, not eliminated, into a spectrum condition. I really don't want to share a label that so many associate with a either a children's disease, an American over-medication hoax, a crux for failure or a drug-seeker's 'disease' and I ESPECIALLY don't like taking the *pre-existing* and not made for purpose medications for it, as they have such a bad reputation and they have unpleasant side effects. I don't like collecting that medication at the pharmacy any more than you like the idea of someone using it for treatment.

Let me tell you what it's like - you cannot put your attention where you want it; it goes where it pleases, usually on the most interesting thing at the time. Imagine having to do something monotonous, tedious or otherwise extremely dull, but extremely important. You know full well that your life will be easier when you complete the task in good time, that you can continue to provide for yourself and your loved one if you apply yourself, that you will continue to build your future. Now imagine not being able to emotionally connect with that future image of yourself and your attention instead judges the task as inferior to pretty much everything else. All other people can tell you is that you need to stop being a child and think of your future and just man up and get it over with.

If I was truly lazy, childish and uncaring about my future and the future of those I love, I wouldn't have been frequently brought to tears by my inability to do what is required and not what is interesting, the weight of actually knowing what its worth to succeed and the hurtful judgements from others when I fail. I wouldn't be in mental pain over it. It is not a nice feeling when you swap jobs because you cannot torture yourself enough to keep the routine going, and within a few months of the novelty wearing off, you can actually feel the disconnect happening and what you previously had such ease doing, becomes harder and harder.

I'm really, really glad on one hand that so many people are so unable to imagine being at odds with themselves like this and can just do as they want provided they care enough; I would dearly love that for myself. I only wish they could instead feel a little empathy or even just leave me alone because I can't do likewise.

I'm also ADD, but i am not ADHD, i don't have the hyperactivity like my wife's best friend... she's 26 and is like a little kid jumping up and down and uncontrollably laughing and having a hard time paying attention except to her phone games...

ADHD is way more obvious than just ADD or AADD... I've always had problems on keeping focused and staying on task. I used to go through about 100 different new hobbies a year, because i could never stay focused long enough to finish anything... except TV and video games...

Mr Doc told me that TV and video games are a form of stimuli that has a chemical effect on the brains of ADD that has the exact opposite effect that their brain typically operate and we go into a chemical "hyper-focus".

He specifically asked me if i played any online games like World of Warcraft, I told him i used to but it was an issue with my marriage, and that's when he started asking me questions that were very specific that he shouldn't have known about, things like forgetting to eat because i was be too focused on the game, playing for 6,8 sometimes 10 hours at a time without a break...

He told my wife that this is a very common side effect for the ADD. The normal world doesn't produce enough stimuli with short term pay-offs to keep an ADD focused... Video Games, Fictional Books, TV/Movies, are forms of stimuli that allow the brain to chemically focus, but when it does, it over compensates those chemicals, and the brain shuts out other things, like looking through a scope, the brain can only see the task that is stimulating it into focus, and the brain can zero in with pinpoint accuracy on that stimulus, but cannot see the rest of the world unless something interrupts it...

Some of us have lived with it so long that we've had to adapt ourselves to overcome it. I got a job working on computers because i can sit at a computer and multitask the shiat out of it.any given time throughout my worday i talk to a customers on the phone, fill out a HD ticket, Fark, Read a book on Amazon Cloud Reader, discuss work related topics in the group chat, talk with any number of people through IM, correspond emails with my wife, work on code for projects internally, and discuss non-work related topics with my coworkers around me... When my boss asked me, i told him and he came over to watch me work and couldn't keep up with what i do just sitting there watching me... They don't really bother me much about Fark anymore...

cherryl taggart:I'm sure there are kids that would benefit from some kind of chemical rebalance, but it can't possibly be as high as the stats indicate currently.

I've worked alongside medical and educational professionals with deep experience of working with children on Ritalin. Both sides agreed that ADHD is a real problem - for about 5% of the children diagnosed with it.

I seriously question the idea that ADD assists in sitting/moving quietly and patiently for hours to get within spear/arrow distance of a game animal.

zepillin: people that don't know what's going on around them drive me crazy at times

You do realize that ADD is characterized by a deficit of attention, not more than everyone else, right?

You oversimplify the condition. It is characterized by an inattention to focus on tasks that are not sufficiently stimulating enough. Games are digital crack.

This actual description is what gives it such a bad reputation, because this is a truth for everyone on this planet. It's just worse in people with the actual condition, and judging the condition is a crapshoot, and is also why it is so difficult to diagnose in children and separate children with the condition from children with no taught value system. It is easier in adults that can better articulate their difficulties.

It is also no longer called ADD, so I would stop using that term as it is a misnomer.

PrinceOfPersia:The Boobies was the sound of an emotional, angry post from someone all too used to being told they're an idiot and their condition is made up

The problem is that ADHD is inappropriately diagnosed in so many cases that the credibility of the condition is serious damaged for those who really do have a problem and really do deserve our sympathy. See also: Asperger's Syndrome, dyspraxia, dyslexia.

CeroX:Some of us have lived with it so long that we've had to adapt ourselves to overcome it. I got a job working on computers because i can sit at a computer and multitask the shiat out of it.any given time throughout my worday i talk to a customers on the phone, fill out a HD tic ...

Bingo. Computers are both my worst enemy and my best friend, and I think most adults can say likewise. A million tabs at once, plenty of RAM and a multi-tasking operating system are all I need and I can work like a trojan on an interesting subject. If I'm having a not great day, the ability to taskswitch fast is a good crutch.

A PC that is grinding its drive, swapping out memory and required several seconds to task switch is actually worse than useless to me as it immediately loses my attention. My setups and configurations always go for the plainest interface designs, the lightest memory programs... anything that allows the system to move like greased lightning and just get information from PC to my eyes is perfect.

orbister:PrinceOfPersia: The Boobies was the sound of an emotional, angry post from someone all too used to being told they're an idiot and their condition is made up

The problem is that ADHD is inappropriately diagnosed in so many cases that the credibility of the condition is serious damaged for those who really do have a problem and really do deserve our sympathy. See also: Asperger's Syndrome, dyspraxia, dyslexia.

I actually don't think it should be treated in kids. That isn't an option because of the effects it has on schooling and exams and the future of the kid, but really, it is not truly distinguishable from bad kids, and who honestly believes that a doctor is going to tell parents 'you are shiatty parents, they need better care' instead of just avoiding that mess altogether and taking the outside gamble?

More than anything, diagnosis needs to be a concrete, measurable thing instead of interview and observational. While being an observational diagnosis hasn't actually allowed bipolar disorder to become a complete joke, it is not appropriate for a disorder that so many people can relate to on a basic level, and one that is diagnosed from childhood.

PrinceOfPersia:I actually don't think it should be treated in kids. That isn't an option because of the effects it has on schooling and exams and the future of the kid, but really, it is not truly distinguishable from bad kids, and who honestly believes that a doctor is going to tell parents 'you are shiatty parents, they need better care' instead of just avoiding that mess altogether and taking the outside gamble?

I'm with you there. I used to work with a special school for boys with emotional and behavioural difficulties, and the staff there said they had never seen a diagnosed case of ADHD for which they thought drug treatment was appropriate. Instead they used intensive behavioural therapy, much of which worked by giving the children responsibility for their own behaviour. Far too many diagnosed kids will say "Hello-I'm-Fred-I've-got-ADHD" and treat the ADHD as a licence to misbehave, an insurmountable barrier, an unchangeable fate, or all of the above. This school would say "OK, Fred, so you've got boundless energy. That's great, that's a strength. But you need to work on focussing better, and we'll help you with that." Result? 85% of their pupils go on to university.

More than anything, diagnosis needs to be a concrete, measurable thing instead of interview and observational. While being an observational diagnosis hasn't actually allowed bipolar disorder to become a complete joke, it is not appropriate for a disorder that so many people can relate to on a basic level, and one that is diagnosed from childhood.

Oh yes indeed. Such things are hard enough to diagnose when the patient has some adult insight and ability to reflect on and express how they feel. When the patient is a child and you're stuck with observation alone, it becomes very much harder.

Please note that I do not deny that ADHD exists, or that the symptoms can cause great suffering, though I do think that medical diagnoses and treatment are probably inappropriate in the vast majority of childhood cases.

I an adult with ADD. I was diagnosed halfway through high school. I went on meds and went from a 2.66 GPA to a 4.0. If not for the diagnosis and the meds I would have barely graduated, would never have gone to college, and would, over all, have a vastly sh*ttier standard of living.

And I never asked for any breaks other than taking meds. No extra time on tests, none of that.

I still struggle every goddamn day, and still take meds, to deal with the f*cked up society you low-intelligence disinterested f*ckwits have built for yourselves because you are only capable of dealing with having everything placed before you in nice neat rows, but are unable to question or dream.

Sadly, i'm seeing signs in both of my kids that they are add, though slightly different from each other... I'm trying to take what i know about the problems i have, and see if i can work around the condition to reach them and get them to perform better in school. It's been working as far as learning the school material goes, but my son is also hyper, and when he is at school he is easily distracted and his hyper nature make him become a distraction.

Since i've started working with him on a one on one basis, his grades have done a complete 180. The only bad reports we get are from him being a distraction in class. He's explained it to me and it basically boils down to that he physically cannot sit still, it gets to a point where he tries and tries and tries, but then it's like there's a breaking point and he just can't take it any longer and he has an outburst...

My daughter though, just like me, she isn't hyper, she just can't stay focused, even when you are talking directly to her, you lose her mid sentence... But when it comes to something that stimulates her interest, she's very good at it... again, avoiding medication, i've been working with her very closely... it's actually easier with her because she doesn't have that hyperactive nature that's making her buzz around or vibrate in her seat... she loves art, and so i've been promoting her learning through art and other methods...

On a personal note those, it takes everything i have to be able to put that kind of focus on my kids and a lot of times it requires my wife to help me keep focused on task to be able to help my kids keep on task... The reason she doesn't really do it is because she can't connect with them the way i can. I know first hand what they are going through, and i can come up with ways to reach them and help them, my wife on the other hand has no idea and can't make that connection, see the signs, and eventually gets frustrated trying to deal with it, so she finds it easier keeping me on task instead of them.

I think claiming to be more aware of one's surroundings was oversimplifying the condition.

PrinceOfPersia: It is also no longer called ADD, so I would stop using that term as it is a misnomer.

The person I was responding to used that terminology. I was responding likewise.

Fair enough. You'll always get a few people trying to twist their conditions, thoughts etc. into strengths.

You could definitely say I'm observant and would probably do well in a high-stress environment like the old hunter idea that is popularly batted around in ADHD sites as a therapy idea for coming to terms with a different mental makeup, but this 'advantage' is useless in a modern world. I may be observant but I can entirely not notice and forget major details that others find incredible, like missing aspects of people's appearance, their names, major locations, major events happens nearby that I've seen before and other things. To me these are just minor variations on a theme that I've experienced all before, and they're not interesting to me. Nothing about that is an advantage.

I think people trying to twist this thing around into veiled 'I'm more manly and better than you simple farmers' things are doing as much damage to the image of the disorder as the mis-diagnosed kids are. It's wonderful if you can actually apply this to your advantage as the people I linked to a list of before could, but make no mistake - this is a disadvantage, not a gift.

CeroX:PrinceOfPersia: I actually don't think it should be treated in kids.

Sadly, i'm seeing signs in both of my kids that they are add, though slightly different from each other... I'm trying to take what i know about the problems i have, and see if i can work around the condition to reach them and get them to perform better in school. It's been working as far as learning the school material goes, but my son is also hyper, and when he is at school he is easily distracted and his hyper nature make him become a distraction.

Since i've started working with him on a one on one basis, his grades have done a complete 180. The only bad reports we get are from him being a distraction in class. He's explained it to me and it basically boils down to that he physically cannot sit still, it gets to a point where he tries and tries and tries, but then it's like there's a breaking point and he just can't take it any longer and he has an outburst...

My daughter though, just like me, she isn't hyper, she just can't stay focused, even when you are talking directly to her, you lose her mid sentence... But when it comes to something that stimulates her interest, she's very good at it... again, avoiding medication, i've been working with her very closely... it's actually easier with her because she doesn't have that hyperactive nature that's making her buzz around or vibrate in her seat... she loves art, and so i've been promoting her learning through art and other methods...

On a personal note those, it takes everything i have to be able to put that kind of focus on my kids and a lot of times it requires my wife to help me keep focused on task to be able to help my kids keep on task... The reason she doesn't really do it is because she can't connect with them the way i can. I know first hand what they are going through, and i can come up with ways to reach them and help them, my wife on the other hand has no idea and can't make that connection, see the signs, and eventually gets frustr ...

I should probably clarify that I mean it shouldn't be treated in kids with our current diagnostic tools, and even that doesn't sit so well for me as it's a hard break for kids like yours. A proper diagnostic test would be the best possible case. There had been a few indications that you could identify working differences in brain activity with fMRI but that has obviously gone nowhere as it's a ludricrously expensive test for what would be a commonly suspected condition.